Home Cooking Chronicles: Summer icebox cake
BY BRIAN MEDFORD
I’m in the middle of a home kitchen
remodel. Translation: I’m in the middle of
drinking coff ee that’s been brewed on my
bathroom counter with no half and half. It’s
about as glamorous as it sounds. It feels
like all I’ve done the past few months is
shop for appliances. All appliances look
glorious when you don’t have any.
The refrigerator has been the most trou-
blesome to select. Refrigerators have more
confi gurations than all the Autobots and
Decepticons combined, plus refrigerator
technology has accelerated more than I can
conceive. The latest refrigerators are essen-
tially Teslas without wheels. I saw one that
keeps a current refrigerator inventory by
itself. I’ve asked myself, “Will I have to
call my 11-year-old nephew to be able to
operate my own refrigerator?” As much
as I enjoy talking to Gus, I don’t want
him to think his Uncle Brian is fridge
incompetent.
All I really want from a refrigerator
is space for my plethora of condiments
(mostly A.1. Sauce) and space for cake.
Icebox cakes were all the rage in the
1920s when Nabisco introduced packaged
chocolate wafer cookies. You could layer
pre-made cookies with whipped cream,
store them in the refrigerator (ahem, the
icebox) overnight — and presto-chango,
dessert is done. It’s a splendid transforma-
tion. It’s like going from Kansas to Oz.
Layering homemade cookies with
whipped cream, puddings and curds,
then letting the refrigerator do the work
delights me. These simple, heat-free
(unless you’re baking the cookies) cakes
rival my favorite dessert, a trifl e, with lit-
tle accompanying fanfare or fuss. It’s why
Southerners love icebox cakes — we don’t
even have to turn on our ovens in the blaz-
ing summer to make dessert (although,
Southerners also love fanfare and fuss).
When my new refrigerator is fi nally
installed, I’m whipping up a seasonal ice-
box cake (who knows what season it will
actually be then) as my inaugural new
kitchen project. It will cool overnight in
pride of place right beside my A.1. Sauce.
Summer icebox cake (serves 12)
Let’s keep things simple this summer
and use store bought cookies. No judg-
ment from me, plus you should never
apologize for dessert.
Ingredients
• 10 ounces shortbread cookies (I like
Walkers)
• 8 ounces chopped rhubarb
10 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
This summer icebox
cake features rhubarb
and strawberries.
Brian Medford
• 8 ounces sliced strawberries
• 3 ½ ounces granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon, 1 teaspoon vanilla
extract, separated
• 16 ounces heavy cream
• 2 ounces confectioners sugar
Preparation
Combine the rhubarb, strawberries
and sugar in a saucepan over medium
heat. Stir occasionally until the fruit
begins to break down. Turn the heat off
and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fi tted with
the whisk attachment, whisk the cream
on medium-high speed until it begins to
thicken. Add the confectioners sugar and 1
tablespoon of vanilla extract. Whisk until
medium-stiff peaks form.
Gently fold in the room-temperature
fruit mixture into the cream.
Roughly cut or crumble the shortbread.
Spread half of the cream in an 8 by 8
inch pan (glass is preferred, so you can see
the layers). Cover the cream with the crum-
bled shortbread. Repeat one more time.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the
cake overnight.
Remove the cake from the refrigerator
and serve.
Brian Medford is the owner of Idlewild
Biscuits and Bakes in Astoria. He teaches
cooking classes at The Pantry in Seattle.